


Sickness

by TheNightmarishKary



Category: Inazuma Eleven: Orion no Kokuin
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 00:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21044954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightmarishKary/pseuds/TheNightmarishKary
Summary: Sick Bernard doesn't really want to accept the fact that he should take some rest and postpone helping whole world to the later date. Fortunately, he has Shinjou who will always be there to make Girikanan understand his mistakes and take care of him (using more or less conventional methods...)





	Sickness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone! 😊
> 
> This is my first story I post here. I know it's not perfect and probably contains of a lot of mistakes and typos but as my excuse, I only can say that English is not my mother tongue and that I was writing it in trains between 4 am - 8 am 😅  
I decided to write a story about two of my favorite characters basing on the Shiptober Topic for the 15th October - SICK (you can find all topics here --> https://twitter.com/Tilays_/status/1176599965843546113?s=19)  
In the end, I didn't make it in a real ship/romantic way but it's mostly their friendship :3
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll like it 💗

Bernard was sitting in his luxurious office in the Orion Foundation. Stacks of documents were laying on the desk waiting peacefully for being checked by the chairman. Since Irina had been sentenced to jail the oldest Girikanan had a lot of work. Bernard signed one report and scanned another one. Man peeked at the heap of papers piling up in front of his eyes. He wanted to sigh in order to express his frustration but his breath unexpectedly turned into a cough. Bernard's eyes widened in surprise and the young man coughed a few more times.  
"Shit," murmured the Orion's chairman angrily. He couldn't be sick. Not now. Not when he had this whole work to do.  
Man coughed again and felt some bizarre coldness surrounding his body. Bernard buttoned up his suit jacket and decided to focus on work but his vision fastly blurred and he became unable to read even the smallest part of the text. The chairman cursed again and put his face in his hands. His body started shivering. Bernard wondered if wrapping himself in the blanket wouldn't a good way to get warm but he immediately rejected this idea. Someone important could enter his office and this person would see him sitting behind the desk, being covered in the blanket and (probably) looking like he was about to die. Well, Bernard didn't know how he looked like but according to his frame of mind, it was something like that. Therefore, he couldn't let anybody see him in this condition. The chairman tried to concentrate on the documents again but all letters on the paper seem to have swirled and spun. Bernard sighed slowly and reminded himself every single time he was told not to overwork.  
"You can't work all the time!"  
"You should care about yourself!"  
"This documentation can wait!"  
"You must take a break!"  
These words which were constantly spoken by Froy or Shinjou in that moment hit him even more, but they weren't right. He couldn't take a break. There was still a lot of poor children around the world who needed help.  
Bernard clenched his teeth and strived to ignore his sickness as much as he could. Unfortunately, after a few seconds, he heard knocking.  
"Shit," mumbled the Orion's chairman trying to assume a decent posture but without any effects. Due to sickness, his hair became messy and some bags under his eyes came to view.  
He heard knocking again.  
"Bernard? It's me," said Shinjou opening the door and entering Girikanan's office.  
"Shinjou?" White-haired man turned his head down with a view to hiding his appearance before his colleague. "What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to fly to Japan today?"  
"That's true but a flight was canceled so I decided to come back here and help you with documents," explained man walking across the room.  
"Oh I se-," Bernard's respond was disturbed by a sudden fit of coughing, which caused a pain in his chest. Girikanan bent down more so as to overcome discomfort. Shinjou looked at him worried.  
"Are you okay?" asked approaching to younger man.  
"Yes, I am" whispered Bernard still keeping his head almost on the desk. "There's nothing to worry about. Now, you can lea-"  
"You're sick," concluded Takuma putting his hands on the desk.  
"No, I'm not, " mumbled Bernard quieter than before.  
"Yes, you are.  
"No, I am…"  
"Bernard, look at me"  
"No.."  
"Bernard."  
Girikanan slowly raised head showing Shinjou his morbidly pale face, glassy eyes, dry lips and reddish, because of high fever, cheeks.  
"You look horrible…, " said Takuma in a worried voice. Bernard focused his eyes on the random sheet of paper on the desk. "You should take time off and go home."  
"I cannot," respond white-haired man still avoiding eye contact with Shinjou.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"I still have a lot of work and children I must help to!"  
Brown-haired man sighed.  
"I understand your point of view.. but you can't neglect your own health doing it! Bernard, think responsibly! You're an adult! Listen, you…  
"No Shinjou! You have to listen to me!" Bernard stood up ignoring all pain and dizziness this move caused. He walked around the desk and approached to Takuma. "I'm your boss and you have no right to give me any orders! I don't have to listen to you! Did you understand Shinjou?! I'm the one who rules this-"  
Bernard didn't finish his monologue because he suddenly felt very weak and passed out falling straight into Takuma's arms...  
"What? Hey, Bernard!" Shinjou involuntarily caught a younger man. "Ahh, why do you never listen to me?…."

•••

Bernard woke up in his bedroom. He blinked a few times and sat on his luxurious bed. Girikanan tried to remind himself what happened but his memories were covered by the endless darkness.  
"Nii-san!" Bernard heard his younger brother's cheerful voice. Froy ran over his bedroom and jumped on the man's bed. The youngest member of the family held a soccer ball in his hands.  
"Let's play soccer Nii-san! I beg you! You promised me yesterday you'll play with me!" Froy jumped off the bed and started kicking the ball up. "Nii-saaaaan!"  
Bernard laughed softly. He loved watching his younger brother playing soccer freely and with no worries. Froy always was his treasure and the main reason to live.  
"Fine, fine, let's play together!" said Bernard getting up and following his brother. 

The Girikanans were playing for hours. They didn't even notice when the sun started coming to set. Bernard and Froy sat under the tree in order to get some rest. The youngest laid his head on his brother's shoulder.  
"I love you, Nii-san," he whispered quietly.  
"I love you too, Froy." 

"Ahh here you two are," said Valentin Girikanan with a smile standing in front of his sons.  
"Dad!" boys shouted cheerfully.  
"What were you two doing the whole day?"  
"We were playing soccer! Nii-san finally agreed to play with me!" screamed Froy jumping.  
Valentin laughed merrily.  
"I hope you had a lot of fun," said stroking brothers' heads. "But Bernard..." Man turned his face to an older son.  
"You know that you shouldn't overwork yourself."  
"But Dad I…"  
"You have to take some decent rest.  
"What? Dad…"  
"You're really smart and hard-working young man, Bernard," said Valentin smiling warmly. "But sometimes you should let others help you in your work. Do you understand, Bernard? Bernard, Bernard…."

•••

"Bernard!"  
Girikanan slowly opened his eyes and saw Shinjou bending over him with a worried face. He was laying on the couch in his office covered by the older man's suit jacket.  
"Ah, you have woken up, what a relief." Takuma stood away and sighed. "Don't scare me like that anymore."  
White-haired blinked a few times confused.  
"Shinjou? What's happened?" asked Bernard weakly. "I was playing soccer with Froy and dad came and… ah, I see… it was just a dream…" He ended quietly ignoring a few small tears which came to his eyes.  
Shinjou peeked at him perplex but after a few seconds, he nodded.  
"You passed out," explained brown-haired man and bent over his colleague again. "How are you feeling now?"  
Girikanan was looking at him sadly for seconds and then he responded.  
"Better than before. Thank you for taking care of me, Shinjou. Now, I should come back to my work."  
He wanted to get up but Takuma laid hands on his shoulders and forced him to lay down back.  
"Wait, wait, wait, Bernard. You won't go anywhere. You passed out! Think responsibly! You're unable to do any work!"  
Girikanan tossed friend's hands from his shoulders and sat on the couch.  
"We were talking about it Shinjou! You have no right to force me to do or to not do something!" yelled Girikanan clenching his hands on the Shinjou's shirt and pulled him nearer.  
"Why are you so stubborn?"  
"Because I need to finish what I started! Leave me alone!"  
"No."  
"Why?!"  
"Because I promised your father I'll take care of you and Froy after his death. So now, stop acting like a kid and go home, Bernard!"  
When Takuma mentioned Valentin Girikanan, Bernard's face immediately changed. His angriness and confidence disappeared and were taken by sadness and helplessness. 

White-haired peeked at his shivering hands clamped on Shinjou's shirt. His whole body was burning because of fever and his vision was getting blurred again. Bernard's eyes extended immediately. He reminded himself that his father's illness had started having similar symptoms before he died.  
Some tears came out of his eyes. Girikanan hid his face in his friend's chest sobbing quietly.  
"Bernard, what's happened?! Hey!" Shinjou looked at his boss shocked. Girikanan wasn't a cuddler type. What's more, he usually avoided physique contact with everyone except Froy. "Bernard."  
Younger man embraced Shinjou even more.  
"I don't want to die…" He mumbled through tears. "I can't leave Froy... I can't leave Orion Foundation… I can't-"  
"What are you talking about?!" almost yelled Shinjou. He had never seen Girikanan in this condition. "You aren't going to die!"  
"I am-"  
"Bernard! Stop saying these all ridiculous things," said Takuma and hugged white-haired man tightly. "You won't die. I won't let you..."  
Girikanan hugged him back sobbing even more. There passed a few minutes till he calmed down.  
"But Shinjou!"  
"Don't say anything," whispered brown-haired man stroking Bernard's back and hair. "You're sick and you're saying stupid things because of a fever."  
"But-"  
"Shhhh… I'll drive you home and you take some rest there."  
"I can't take time off!" shouted Girikanan moving away from his aider. "I need to finish my work first because-"  
"Don't start with shit again, Bernard!" yelled Shinjou angrily standing up. "You're going home! NOW!"  
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I'M A BOSS HERE! AND I'M 29!"  
"BUT I'M OLDER AND YOU HAVE TO RESPECT ME!"  
"I'M NOT GOING TO-" Bernard's response was interrupted by a sudden fit of coughing.  
"You're going to…" said Shinjou really annoyed by the whole situation. He came to a younger man and picked him up.  
"WHAAAT?! SHINJOU WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled Girikanan trying to break free himself.  
"You didn't want to listen to me when I was nice so I was forced to use other methods... You are heavier than you look.. did you know?"  
"BUT SHINJOU! SOMEONE CAN SEE US! YOU CAN'T-"  
White-haired was trying to push Shinjou away but he was too weak because of his sickness. Around the 28th floor of Orion tower-block, he gave up and let an older man carry him until his car.  
"See? It wasn't so hard, was it?"  
Bernard murmured something angrily in response crossing his arms and finally yelled.  
"YOU DESTROYED MY IMAGE HERE! HOW WILL I COME BACK HERE NOW?!"  
"Good, you'll have more time to rest…"  
"SHINJOU!"  
"Yes?"  
"LET ME FREE YOU IDIOT!"  
"NO."  
"DO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU OR-"  
"Or what?" asked Takuma with sadistic smile untying Bernard's tie and then tying white-haired man's hands with it and completely ignoring how bad and ambiguous it looked like. "What a sick, poor, weak you can do to me?"  
"SH-SHINJOU!" screamed Bernard quite scared. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"  
"Ah, don't take it too seriously… it's only for your own good…  
I just want to make myself sure you won't get off the car and escape at some traffic lights.  
"Shinjou, you're cruel! Why your stupid flight had to be canceled, why?!"  
"Calm down, Bernard or you will make your state even worse."  
"I'm not going to calm do-" Orion's chairman's words were interrupted by the sound of turning on the car's engine. They were driving to the Girikanans' mansion in silence so after some time Bernard felt so sleepy and tired. His eyes immediately closed and the last thing he remembered was his name said by Shinjou. 

•••

Bernard partially remembered what happened next...  
Someone (probably Shinjou) was shaking him saying his name... Then two people were talking about something over his head… Somebody stroked his hair and then put a wet towel on his forehead...  
It was everything that Orion's chairman was able to remind himself, all of the other things were covered by endless darkness...

•••

"WHY ARE YOU LAYING ON THIS COUCH, BERNARD?! YOU NEED TO STUDY FOR YOUR EXAMS!"  
A 6-year-old Girikanan almost jumped hearing an angry voice of his mother.  
"But I did everything I had to do…" answered Bernard quietly looking at his knees. "I did the exercises and solved all math problems for this exam and-"  
"SO REPEAT IT AND THEN DO IT ONCE AGAIN! YOU MUST HAVE THE BEST GRADES IN YOUR SCHOOL, DID YOU UNDERSTAND?!"  
"Y-yes…"  
"IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BEST RESULTS, WE WILL TALK IN ANOTHER WAY!" Irina bent over his son. "REMEMBER YOU GOT ONLY 95% FOR YOUR LAST TEST! THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR YOU!"  
"I'm sorry, mama!" Shouted Bernard turning his face down. "Forgive me, mama!"  
"I DON'T NEED YOUR APOLOGY!"  
"I'm so sorry! I am-"

•••

"I'M SORRY, MAMA!" shouted Bernard through tears getting up but unexpectedly he hit in something hard.  
White-haired man was breathing toughly for a few seconds, then he decided to open his, clenched because of fear, eyelids. Bernard blinked a few times and realized he is in his bedroom and Irina and exams were only a dream. He sighed relieved.  
"Oh, you have woken up…" said Shinjou getting up from the floor and holding his forehead. "You must have had a real nightmare… You were screaming and crying for minutes. I was trying to wake you up but your sleep was too heavy."  
"Shinjou? What are you doing here?" asked Girikanan surprised.  
"Don't you remember?" said Takuma sitting on the edge of the bed. "You passed out in your office so I decided to drive you home. But you didn't want to cooperate with me so I tied you with your tie..." Explaining this part, brown-haired man turned his eyes away blushing slightly. Maybe, he shouldn't have mentioned it since Girikanan remembered nothing? "but in the car, you passed out again so I called the doctor. He said you had a serious kind of flu and you NEEDED to stay at home for a few days or your state will get worse…"  
Bernard was looking at Shinjou confused but after a couple of seconds his memories started getting back to him and he reminded himself almost everything. Girikanan smiled a bit thinking about tie, he never thought Shinjou could come up with such an idea.  
"I'm sorry…" said Bernard quietly when Shinjou finished clarifying everything.  
"What?" Takuma peeked at Girikanan confused. "You don't need to apologize. You're sick and you were talking and doing foolish things because of it, so you-"  
"You're wrong! I have to apologize to you! I have to do what I haven't done yet but I should have!"  
"What are you talking about?"  
Bernard took a deep breath.  
"I have to apologize for everything that happened to you… For my mother and that she slapped you… For kidnapped your son… For all things, Orion did to you… For-"  
"Wait, wait, wait Bernard. Why are you talking about it right now?" Shinjou opened his eyes surprised. He didn't expect Girikanan would start apologizing to him for all those things that happened in the past.  
"Because I always wanted to do it but I was too scared!" Screamed Orion's chairman but he immediately started coughing because of too big effort which it caused.  
"Calm down, Bernard. It's fine." Older man laid his hands on the younger one's shoulders and softly forced him to lay down on the bed. "I have forgiven you long time ago. We don't really need to come back to those things which happened."  
"But Shinjou!"  
"It's okay Bernard, really. Now, you have to focus on yourself and take some rest and sleep. And I don't want to hear any objections from you!"  
"Ah okay, okay… You have won, Shinjou." Girikanan gave up and laid on his bed."  
Shinjou nodded with a smile.  
"I see, we finally come up to consensus," said satisfied and wanted to leave but Bernard caught an end of his sleeve.  
"Shinjou…"  
"Yes?"  
"Will you… will you stay with me until I fall asleep?… I mean… I'm afraid I will have these nightmares with my mother again…" Shinjou peeked at Girikanan surprised. "If it's a problem, obviously, you can go and don't even pay your attention to m-"  
"Of course I'll stay with you if you need it," said an older man sitting back on the edge of the bed. Bernard smiled slightly with a little relief. He really needed it.  
"Thank you, Shinjou... Thank you so much."  
"You don't have to thank me. I'm here for you. We are friends."  
"No! I have to! I have to thank you for everything you have ever been doing to me! You always were by my side. Even when you were thinking I'm the one who runs Orion, you didn't want to sentence me to the jail but make me understand my mistakes… after my mother left you helped me a lot with Orion and everything. You were like.. like a father to me… I believe… I'm here just thank to you, Shinjou… and this is why I feel obligated to say thank you!"  
"You're welcome, Bernard. I still think I did nothing that I should be rewarded for but... I'm glad I could help you," said Shinjou with a smile. "Now, go to sleep, please. I'll stay here as long as it will be needed."  
"Thank you.." Bernard closed his eyes trying to fall asleep but he opened them suddenly after a few seconds.  
"Shinjou?"  
"Mmmm?"  
"Why your forehead is swollen?"  
"My forehead?" Shinjou touched his face and laughed. "It's swollen because you hit me when you were getting up. You really don't remember?"  
Bernard shook his head.  
"And you aren't feeling any pain of your head, now?"  
"Nooo, but if you feel, I can kiss you in it so it will stop hurting~," winked Girikanan making Shinjou giggling even more.  
"You're an idiot! A giant, old idiot," chuckled Takuma messing Bernard's hair.  
"Hey, I'm younger than you!"  
"Goodnight, Bernard," cut conversation Shinjou.

Takuma was sitting in Bernard's bedroom for over an hour making himself sure Girikanan won't be woken up by the nightmares again. Everything that happened during a few last months really made them be closer to each other. Both of them felt like they finally found someone who they were looking for through years - a true best friend. 

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo...
> 
> Here are some cookies for everyone who managed to read the whole story and didn't die~ 🍪🍪🍪
> 
> I hope this story wasn't very bad and I won't be killed by any of you~ 😅💗
> 
> Well, now if you don't have enough of me and this story you can leave a comment and say how (bad) it was in your opinion 😊
> 
> I wish you all a great day~ 💗


End file.
